


Masked

by chaoticlywise



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, BAMF Tony Stark, Father-Son Relationship, Fluff, Gen, Hurt Peter Parker, Parent Tony Stark, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Precious Peter Parker, Protective Tony Stark, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-18
Updated: 2018-09-18
Packaged: 2019-07-13 19:25:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,440
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16024409
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chaoticlywise/pseuds/chaoticlywise
Summary: “No, you’re staying here,” Tony says to Peter as he twists his watch to make a small gauntlet. “I will be right back, okay?”“I’m not just gonna stay here while you go out there and get hurt-” Peter protests stubbornly but is cut off by Tony.“Peter, do not argue with me on this,” Tony says quietly but firmly. He softens his voice when Peter’s face morphs into shock. “I’m doing this to keep you safe. Just please, whatever you do, stay here and hide until I can get back to you.” He says, voice more desperate than before.Peter relents, Tony never uses his first name unless it’s super serious, so he steps back some. Tony nods and throws one more worried glance back at Peter before he closes the door. Peter stands awkwardly in the empty room for a minute before deciding it’s not worth it.‘Stay here my ass,’ Peter thinks as he forms a way to sneak out.Or:What should be a relaxing night in the Tower turns into a nightmare when multiple masked assailants enter the building, looking for leverage against Tony Stark. Instead of finding a suit or something of equal value, they find Peter Parker.





	Masked

**Author's Note:**

> This is very loosely edited, so very sorry for any mistakes you may find. It's also like almost 11PM where I am so I'm tired. I take recommendations (being creative and original is hard lol)! If you would like to recommend a fic, you can comment it on my most recent fic or ask me on Tumblr (@chaoticlywise). Happy reading and hit me up with some prompts!

Peter lets out a loud, obnoxious ‘whoop!’ as he lands on the landing pad of the Tower, Tony landing behind him a second later. 

“Getting slow in your old age?” Peter teases and Tony’s hand raises to his chest dramatically. Peter can practically see the fake hurt on his face beneath the faceplate when he starts to answer. Peter laughs breathily, taking his mask off.

“Hey, I’m not old. In fact, I’ve never been better. I would say I’m- I’m prospering.” Tony says as he steps out of his suit. Peter rolls his eyes as Tony walks towards the doors to the inside, ruffling Peter’s already mussed hair.

“You gonna take that suit in or..?” 

“It’ll self park once I haven’t been using it for a while, it’s fine.” Tony says. “God, I miss my nanotech.” He complains in a whiny voice. Peter thinks he sees his brain with how hard he rolls his eyes.

“Just put it back in, dumbo.” Peter says in a voice that basically screams teenager. 

“No can do, kid. Mrs. Stark has expressed her… severe disinterest for our nano-friends, so they will most likely not be making a reappearance. Not for a while, at least.” Tony says as they make their way into the communal living room where Steve, Clint, and Natasha relax, watching some action movie they’ve probably all experienced in some form or another. 

The room is just lit up by the TV and a hallway light leading to the bedrooms. Peter goes to change and Tony sits down on the large, soft rocking chair in the corner.

“I wish Pepper was here, you guys are boring,” Tony groans dramatically. Clint snorts and Natasha raises an amused brow as Steve lets out a huff of air and hangs his head with a smile. They are definitely the least boring people in the world, with the jobs they have

“Where is the wife anyway?” Natasha asks. 

“Oh, she’s in Tokyo for some SI meeting or something, I dunno.” Tony says back, turning his attention to the TV.

“Shouldn’t you know what the meeting is about?” Steve asks, sounding genuinely confused. “It’s your business.” 

“Ah, ah, my name is just on everything. Pepper is the one who actually runs everything. She’ll give the a summary when she Skype’s me later, anyway.” Tony says, shrugging casually. 

“How was patrol with the kid?” Clint asks. After everything that happened with Thanos, the snap, the few months where the world was in chaos, and then bringing everyone back, Tony and Peter decided that keeping his identity from the Avengers wasn’t necessary. The team had reacted the way Tony expected them to: shocked, maybe even a little betrayed. But they all warmed up to the kid eventually and Peter made himself a part of their everyday lives. Tony nods happily as he starts to answer to Clint’s question.

“It was good. No accidents, stopped a few petty crimes. Peter did amazing, as usual.” He says, getting the other three occupants of the room to smile softly.

They turn their attention back to the TV where some action scene is happening. Peter walks into the room, now in sweats and a t-shirt. He shuffles over to where Tony is sitting and squeezes himself between Tony and the arm of the chair. They adjust so it’s less uncomfortable and Peter lays his head on Tony’s shoulder. 

“Have you called May?” Tony asks Peter softly as to not disturb the other occupants of the room, leaning down so it’s easier to hear. Peter shakes his head.

“I should probably go do that now, shouldn’t I?” Peter asks rhetorically. Tony nods anyway.

“We’ll still be here when you come back,” Tony says as Peter hesitates to get up.

“Ugh, it’s really warm here though, and I don’t wanna get up,” Peter whines. “You think she’ll be mad if I just call her tomorrow?” 

Tony hums to himself. “Probably not but she is expecting a call tonight, you should just do it now and then you can come back and we’ll finish up the movie if you want and go to bed. Sound good?” He asks. Peter nods and gets up. He walks to his room, phone in hand and already dialing the numbers he knows so well. 

It’s only a few minutes later, Peter’s still on the phone with his aunt, when the security breach alarms go off, blaring red lights cast shadows and it’s loud in the spacious Tower. The four Avengers make brief eye contact before they all stand and begin talking over one another.

“Tony, what is that?” Steve asks over the noise as Peter comes barreling around the corner with a crease in his brows and phone no longer in his hand. Tony motions for Peter to come over to him and tucks the kids body against his own when he does.

“Security breach,” Tony says and at the others confused faces, he explains. “Means someone with not so great intentions has entered the building.” Steve nods, shoulders rigid and battle ready.

“How’d they even get in here?” Clint asks, fingers twitching, probably wishing he had some sort of weapon with him. “Isn’t this building supposed to be super secure? We’re the Avengers, it’s not like we haven’t made enemies.” Tony nods in confirmation as he taps on his phone, the alarms go off but the red lights stay flashing.

“Shit, anyone got any bars?” Tony asks. The four other occupants of the room pull their phones out and shake their heads. “They took out the wifi.”

“Why would they do that?” Natasha asks but Tony’s sure she already knows the answer to her own question. Whoever this is, they’re trying - and succeeding - in cutting them off from the rest of the world. Whatever they have planned can’t be good. The heavy silence overwhelms them for a moment before Steve takes action.

“FRIDAY, what’s the situation?” Steve asks but all he gets back is a bunch of jumbled up code and static. “What’s happening? Why isn’t FRIDAY working?” 

“They probably took out FRIDAY first, that’s why the alarms went off instead of her just telling us what the deal was. Looks like we’re cut off from all contacts, ladies and gents. We’re gonna have to do shit the old fashioned way.” Tony says curtly. The red lights cast on Tony’s face and give him an eerie sort of look. 

“Jesus, who are these guys?” Clint asks, hand on his forehead, shaking his head back and forth.

“Dunno but whoever they are, they’re good at taking out tech.” Tony says, starting to lead them through the communal kitchen and towards the staircase that leads to Tony’s main lab. Natasha’s brows furrow.

“Okay, where's the safest place to be? Do we have any weapons?” She asks. Tony stays quiet for a moment when they get downstairs, opening the door and looking around the hall before he walks briskly over to the lab, the others following swiftly, lifting a panel on the door and pressing a concealed button. He slides it open manually and ushers them in. It springs back almost automatically when he lets go once they are all inside with a soft click.

“Here,” Tony says then points to Peter. “Kid, go grab Clint’s prototype bow and arrows, I got Cap’s shield and Natasha, there’s a gun under that table over there.” He calls out and the room spins into action. Peter hands Clint his arrows and bow, quickly explaining some of the new features and Natasha loads her gun while Steve takes his shield. Tony grabs a wristwatch. 

Within the next couple of minutes, Steve, Natasha, and Clint are equipped enough for a small fight and begin to slip out of the door. Peter snags Tony’s sleeve as he begins to follow his teammates. 

“What do you want me to do? I can like, crawl through the vents and, I dunno, sneak attack them-”

“No, you’re staying here,” Tony says to Peter as he twists his watch to make a small gauntlet. “I will be right back, okay?” Peter recoils almost violently, a protest on the tip of his tongue.

“I’m not just gonna stay here while you go out there and get hurt-” Peter objects stubbornly but is cut off by Tony.

“Peter, do not argue with me on this,” Tony says quietly but firmly. He softens his voice when Peter’s face morphs into shock. “I’m doing this to keep you safe. Just please, whatever you do, stay here and hide until I can get back to you. Got it?” He says, voice more desperate than before. 

Peter relents, Tony never uses his full, first name unless it’s super serious, so he steps back some. “Yeah, we don’t know what we’re dealing with and you don’t want me out there. I’m a liability.” Tony huffs.

“You are anything but a liability, Pete,” Tony says, resting a hand on Peter’s shoulder. “But we don’t know what these guys are after. They might be after the Avengers or something more personal, like you or Pepper. And if that is what they’re after, they’ll use you against us. I can’t have that and you’ll be safe here.” 

Peter nods slightly and Tony sighs but nods back, throwing one more worried glance back at Peter before he closes the door. Peter stands awkwardly in the empty room for a minute before deciding it’s not worth it.

‘Stay here my ass,’ Peter thinks as he forms a way to sneak out.

——————————————————————

So Peter’s plan wasn’t foolproof, but it was damn near close in his mind. Get out of the lab, find Tony, explain why he’s out there when Tony inevitably yells at him and then help them fight whoever broke in. Besides, there was absolutely no way he was letting Tony do this by himself, even if he did have his team to watch his back. He would feel better if he was out there, too. 

Peter snaps on his prototype web-shooters and squeezes through the door, DUM-E and U whirring unhappily behind him. 

The door clicks softly behind him and he’s left in the deafening silence of the hall. Peter’s breath catches, the darkness of the hall throwing him off guard. He pulls Tony’s thick MIT sweatshirt that he put on in the lab more down his wrists, covering and concealing his web-shooters. He makes his way down the hall, the sirens have stopped but the red lights still make odd shadows, putting Peter more on edge. 

He heads for the elevator and presses the button. When nothing happens, he remembers Tony saying whoever these guys are took out the power. Everything was on backup power now which meant all backup power would be diverted to anything that could help them fight or escape. Anything that wouldn’t help that cause, like an elevator, was essentially turned off. He decides to go to the stairs he and the other Avengers originally went down and heads up instead. 

The communal kitchen is the same as it was when they were first up here, messily organized in the way a large family kitchen would be. Peter’s geometry homework sits on the counter where he left it before patrol and shoes are lined by the wall near the frozen elevator. An open cookbook is sat by the stove for future use, undoubtedly Sam’s since he’s the only one who can actually cook, besides maybe Natasha. A bowl of fruit sits in the middle of the breakfast table in the corner, an orange is half peeled on a napkin, probably Clint’s. Tony would throw a fit when he saw that.

He walks in and it feels unwelcoming with the red, glinting lights. Cold and empty. Peter shudders a little. He walks further into the room and an uneasy feeling Peter began to associate with bad things happening soon after crept up his arms and back, up to the back of his neck. He looks around for the source but comes up empty. 

Peter walks back into the staircase and starts to go down, looking for the others to help them with whatever he can. Maybe he’ll head to the library. It was huge and had amazing vantage points since it was two floors. Or he would head to the SI floors, employees wouldn’t be here this time of night-

Peter’s thought process is cut off by the door he just came out of being opened and a sense in the back of his head screams at him. He looks up, trying to see if he can hear anything. Footfalls come rushing down the stairs, right towards him. Shit. 

Peter races down the flight of stairs he’s on, slipping a little in his haste. The person must’ve heard him because he hears a loud, burly sounding ‘hey!’ and then faster footfalls. Peter presses the release bar on the door to open but it doesn’t budge. He didn’t want to use his super strength, it might out him, but he doesn’t always get what he wants. 

Before Peter can ram his body into the door, it opens quickly. A man Peter doesn’t recognise is standing out there, and the grin he gives Peter makes goosebumps rise on his arms. 

“Well, what do we have here?” The man asks. His voice is like nails on a chalkboard, all raspy and loud. Peter goes make a break for the kitchen again but when he turns, the person that was chasing him is standing on the top of the stairs, pointing a gun at his head. Peter gets the feeling that maybe he should’ve listened to Tony and stayed in the lab. The guy behind him laughs a little condescendingly. Peter could fight these guys easily. The gun might be hard to take down but he has his web-shooters.

But then they would know he’s Spider-Man and he hasn’t kept up his secret identity this long for some lowlifes to sell him out in prison. He has to keep May safe. He has to keep Ned and MJ safe. He has to keep himself safe for them, for Tony. Peter sighs a lets the frightened teenager act take over. It wasn’t hard, this shit was actually scary. The guy in the doorway scoffs.

“On your knees, kid, hands up.” He says, pulling a handgun from behind his back and aming it at Peter. Both men slowly walk towards him and they look at each other.

“What are we supposed to do with him?” Stairway guy asks. Doorway guy shrugs. 

“We can take ‘im to the other guys, see what they think we should do with him.” He says. Stairway guy smirks and then nudges the other guy in his ribs with his elbow. “Or we could go wreck some shit. I mean, we’re here to get some info, right? Let’s make the most of it.”

“How much do you think Stark would pay to get him back?” He asks and doorway guy smiles that terrible smile again. 

Peter really should’ve listened to Tony.

——————————————————————

“Open it,” Stairway growls at Peter as he’s shoved towards the door of the lab. Peter struggles to keep up the act before he turns around and glares at them.

“I can’t,” Peter snarls to him, which only gets him a whack on the back of his head with the back of the gun. He falls to his knees, vision swimming. He just barely catches himself before he can faceplant. Peter turns to face them after taking a second to catch his breath. “The door needs the power you took out to work, idiot.”

“What can we do to open it?” Stairway guy asks and Peter turns around. He refuses to look at them.

“Can we pry it open?” Doorway guy asks his partner. Stairway guy huffs, almost angrily. 

“With what, dipshit?” Stairway guy snaps. Peter doesn't say anything. He knows the way to open it, he saw Tony do it just barely 30 minutes ago, and he knows he can, but not for these assholes. Never. “You know something, don’t you?” Stairway guy asks Peter, who continues to not say anything. He can feel the eyes burning holes in the back of his head. The man then sighs dramatically. “Fine, don’t say anything but it’s on you when Stark comes to find you and we shoot him in the head instead.” He says, idly fiddling with his gun. Peter’s head shoots up, looking at them. He can tell they aren’t bluffing. They would kill Tony and it would be his fault, just like Ben. He can’t do that again, let down another person. Go to another funeral. 

Peter sighs in defeat and hangs his head. “If you lift up that panel, there's a button. Press it and the lock will release.” He says, jerking his head to the right panel. He feels fucking ashamed. He feels like he just betrayed Tony. 

Doorway guy steps forward and does as Peter said. They can hear the latch unlock and the two men smirk to each other. Doorway guy hauls Peter up and Stairway guy slides the door open with only some effort.

They walk inside like they own the place. Stairway guy looks in awe around Tony’s lab and Peter wonders distantly if that’s what he looked like the first time he was allowed in, open-mouthed and looking like a kid in a candy shop.

Peter’s shoved down onto his knees again while the two men look around the lab, picking things up and throwing them back down carelessly when they find it uninteresting. It burns Peter to his core. He distantly hopes something blows up in one of their faces while being so reckless. 

It’s then that Peter realizes that if he can make a mad dash for the other side of the lab, he can hit the panic button behind the couch and Tony will know he’s in trouble and get down to the lab safely. As in without a bullet in his head. So, this plan wasn’t foolproof either, but why start planning now when winging it had already gotten him this far in life?

Peter makes sure to wait until they are looking at some of the Iron Man suit blueprints, facing away from him, before he makes his play. 

He moves slowly, slower than he thinks he’s ever moved in his life, so he’s crouching, feet springing up and down lightly before he bounces into action. He runs across the lab and at Peter’s comotion, the men turn around, shouting profanities at him. As he’s running, a bullet embeds itself in the counter just next to him. He falters for a second but keeps going.

He gets to the couch and shoves it backwards slightly, stretching his arm as far as it can in the small space. Then finally, his hand brushes the button and he presses it. He lets his arm drop and leans his head onto the arm of the couch, closing his eyes and panting, less from physical exertion and more from the oncoming adrenaline crash. He can faintly hear DUM-E and U whirring around worriedly and weirdly enough, this offers him some comfort. Peter can hear the two men walking briskly up behind and talking him but his hearing begins to static with relief and he can’t make out what they’re saying in detail. He feels floaty and tired. 

Peter’s torn out of his panicky spiral by two sets of hands grabbing him from under his arms and practically throwing him back. He lands on his back and air is suddenly hard to take in from this angle. He struggles to adjust so he’s on his side and breathes a little deeper. He sees the Stairway guy and Doorway guy pull the couch back so they can get a look at what Peter was trying to get to. They both look angry when they see the button and that warning twinge in the back of his head flares up again. He winces as he sits up, trying to get his bearings.

Stairway guy starts to walk towards him menacingly. Peter scrambles back until he feels the door against his back. He can actually feel terror coursing through him, terror he hasn’t felt since Ben got shot, since the Ferry, since battling it out with the Vulture, since he turned to ash on a planet that wasn’t his own. The man takes his gun out and clicks the safety off. Oh, god, he’s gonna die, just like Ben, just like Tony would’ve. What will May do? Ned? Shit, what about Tony? He’s dead, dead, dead-

The door behind him slides open and he falls back uncomfortably onto the front of somebody’s legs. He looks up and solace floods his body because it’s Tony with Natasha behind him as backup, gauntlet raised and gun pointed at the man closest to them respectively. Peter feels tears prick at the corners of his eyes. 

“Hey man,” Tony says slowly, threateningly as he stares the man down. “I want you to think long and hard about the consequences after you pull that trigger because I can guarantee you that it won’t be a walk in the park. You’d be wishing you were in jail.” He says, voice never wavering even when the gun adjusts to his head. Both men look petrified even with the advantage they seem to have. 

“Listen Stark,” Doorway guy says, gaining Tony’s attention. The man puts his hands up and drops his gun on the ground. “We don’t want any trouble-” 

“You asked for trouble as soon as you broke in here and threatened my kid,” Tony says and the man shakes his head vehemently. Tony just nods back. “Yes, you did. You want something, don’t you? And what is it this time? Money? Tech? You got a personal vendetta on the Avengers? Or do you just feel like scaring the shit out of a 17 year old? Is that the brand of asshole you are? ‘Cause if it is, there are plenty of people in prison who would love to have a chit-chat with you.” He says matter of factly with his eyebrows raised accusingly. Both guns are suddenly on the ground and both men in the room have their hands up, surrendering. 

Peter’s heart is rattling in his chest, sputtering breaths leave his mouth. Tony looks down with worried eyes and sees Peter’s state, then turns to Natasha. “You got this?” He asks gesturing to the men in the lab. She raises her eyebrows in a look that says ‘really? Do you know who I am?’ but nods, stepping forward slowly with her gun still raised. “Cool.” 

Tony steps backwards and Peter slips a little before catching himself. Tony squats down next to the kid and places a hesitant hand on his shoulder. Peter flinches a little but upon realising it’s just Tony, relaxes. He’s still gasping and it makes him feel like a little kid. “You good, Pete? They hurt you?” Tony asks quietly, trying to get Peter to look at him. Peter jerks his head in what seems like a nod. Tony sighs. “Okay, let’s get you outta here, sound good?” Peter nods again and pushes himself up. Tony wraps an arm around his shoulders and walks him out of the lab. 

Peter freezes slightly at the doorway before forcing himself up the stairs. If Tony notices, he doesn’t point it out or say anything, just tightens his grasp around the kid and leads them up the stairs. 

Tony feels oddly possessive of Peter most of the time but right now, it feels almost parental instead of the usual mentor/mentee protectiveness he normally feels. “Hey kid, what do you think about sleeping on the couch in the lab tonight? After those goons are gone, obviously.” Tony asks and Peter tenses under his hold. Tony backtracks like crazy. “Or we don’t have to. I was just going to set up FRIDAY again and I was hoping you’d come hang out with me but that’s completely understandable if you don’t want to-” Peter cuts him off.

“No, it’s fine. I don’t know why I’m acting like this, it’s not even a big deal.” Peter says looking down, his breathing is a little more steady but it’s heavy, like he’s forcing them out evenly. Tony stops walking and faces the distressed teen, placing his hands on his shoulders and looking directly into his eyes.

“Kid, this is no way your fault,” Tony says. He really wants to drive this home, that there was nothing Peter could’ve done to stop these guys breaking in, so Tony takes in a shaky breath and steels himself. “When I got back from Afghanistan, I didn’t cope in healthy ways. Stayed up way too late, drank too much coffee, never slept, and I never talked about what happened until Pep made me go to therapy. It wasn’t good. Really not good. And all that happened because I told myself everything that happened was my fault when it wasn’t. I did what I had to do to escape, just survival and that’s exactly what you did. You did the right thing, Pete.” He says. Peter sniffs and wipes a hand under his nose, averting his teary eyes from Tony’s sincere ones. “I’m proud of you, kid. So, so proud.”

“I left the lab, even after you told me not to. And I’m really sorry,” Peter says, still not making eye contact. “Not for leaving but for getting caught.” He finishes and Tony sighs.

“I know you did,” Tony says and Peter’s head snaps up to look at his mentor in what looks like shock. Tony breathes out a laugh. “I’m not mad but for being such a smart kid, you can be really dumb sometimes.” Peter lets out a relieved laugh.

“I guess dumb runs in the family.” Peter says. They both freeze. Peter promised himself that he would never let himself slip up like that. But Tony was apart of his family know, whether either of them liked it or not. He doesn’t look at Tony, preparing to get kicked out or something, but then Tony’s arm wraps his arm around Peter’s shoulders and begins walking them towards the stairs slowly, giving Peter time to back out if he wanted. Peter didn’t.

“I guess it does,” Tony murmurs back then in a more boisterous voice, says “Okay, so lab sound good?” And Peter can’t help but agree with a soft smile on his face.

——————————————————————

Throughout the night and early morning, Tony sneaks glances behind him at the currently occupied, worn down couch while he works on getting FRIDAY back up and working. 

Peter sleeps for a long ass time. Even when the sun rises and shines into the lab, he’s still out like a light. Tony can’t blame him. After he got back from Afghanistan, all he wanted to do was sleep for weeks. He didn’t, of course. He had other things to work on, like Mark 2. People all cope in different ways, Tony supposes as he watches Peter shift in his sleep and make a weird snort-snore noise that makes Tony roll his eyes fondly. 

It’s around noon when Peter actually wakes up and goes to get something to eat. Tony isn’t in the lab when he wakes up so he goes to the kitchen. Walking through the empty lab is a little weird. A little jarring after the violent night before. He heads for the stairs. 

Walking up the stairs is worse than walking through the lab. This is where those asshats caught him, made him break into Tony’s lab and told him they’d shoot the man if he didn’t do what they asked. He freezes half way up, tempted to call out to FRIDAY and get her to get Tony down there right that second. He doesn’t. He’s faced worse than a set of stairs. Trauma does weird things to a person, he supposes. 

When he walks into the kitchen, Natasha is standing by the counter, sipping on some drink. She looks up and smiles softly when they make eye contact. There are some bruises around her eyes and a couple of stitches above her left eyebrow. She doesn’t look like she took too much of a beating last night which makes Peter wonder how Clint and Steve held up.

“Hey,” she says as she places the drink on the counter. 

“Hi,” Peter says back. He feels a little put out of place. The Tower doesn’t feel as safe as it once did. The thought brings a pang of guilt into his gut. Peter and Natasha look at each other for a moment, the silence is so awkward and tense, Peter is sure you could cut it with a knife. He's always been open with Natasha but for a reason Peter can’t seem to put his finger on, he feels uneasy around her right now “Do you know where Tony is?” 

“He’s heading to the police station,” Natasha says, taking another sip of her drink. “He’s gonna get those guys thrown in jail for the rest of their lives, probably.” She says casually and Peter blanches. 

“Really?” Peter asks. He doesn’t know why he’s shocked. These guys did some illegal shit. “What’s he got on them?” 

“Breaking and entering, position of an automatic weapon without a license, hacking/computer crimes, and that’s just the stuff we know about right now. Who knows what other crimes will be uncovered with some money and a few thinly veiled threats.” She says with a raised brow. “Why? You know something that might be useful?” 

“Uh, yeah,” Peter says and Natasha straightens from her relaxed stance into a more battle ready stance. “I dunno if this will help at all but one of them threatened Tony. Said they’d shoot him if I didn’t help them get into the lab.”

Natasha is good at hiding her emotions but Peter can clearly see the anger flare up behind her eyes. She looks more pissed with each word he says and Peter would be terrified if that look were directed towards him. She nods.

“And now we have them on intended assault,” she mutters under her breath. “Thank you for telling me that, Peter. I’ll make sure to call Tony.” She says as she walks out of the room. 

“Tell him I said hey!” Peter calls after her. She nods as she walks towards her room, phone already held up to her ear.

Peter slumps a little once she’s gone. He’s so tired. He moves to the couch and turns the TV on, mindlessly watching whatever channel is on and actively avoiding the news. He knows what their top story is today, anyway. 

Clint joins him on the couch soon after, eating an apple and flopping on the couch next to him. They begin to watch some cartoon and Steve walks in a few minutes later. They both look only a little bruised and cut up. Steve looks marginally worse, probably having took the brunt of the fight, putting the “super” in super soldier to work. He sits down heavily in the rocking chair next to them after getting a cup of whatever Natasha had been drinking. 

They watch for a little while longer, each of them dozing slightly at some point until Tony and Rhodey walk in. Peter waves to them a little from behind the couch. He zeros in on Tony’s black eye and the nasty split lip. His blood boils.

“Hey kid,” Rhodey says softly, coming to sit down next to Clint as Tony grumbles and moves to the love seat since all the spots are taken on couch. “How’s it goin’?” He asks and all of the occupants of the room tune in. Peter shrugs. 

“I’m good,” he says as he moves to get up and go collapse down again next to Tony and Clint looks only a little hurt by his actions. “Just tired.” 

Tony cards his hand through Peter’s hair and the teen leans into the comfort. It’s a lot like the night before except with cartoons instead of really bad action movies and Rhodey instead of Natasha. It’s kinda nice how it is but it would be better if Natasha were there, even if she puts him off for some reason right then. 

They spend the rest of the afternoon like this, snuggled in the living room watching whatever comes on TV. Tony doesn’t mind doing nothing just this once if it means he gets to have his kid with him.

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so I started this a while ago and then got to the almost very end and then had no idea where to go with it. So with all that said, OH MY GOD I’M SO SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG. School has been super stressful omg, you don’t even know. I had 3 mental breaks over 2 different projects and I’ve been stressing about adding another chapter to one of my older fics. I haven’t given up on writing after only 1 month lol, I have another fic in the works and it should be up soon (emphasis on the word “should”). However, school is my #1 priority right now. Thank you for reading and, as always, kudos and comments are appreciated!


End file.
